Luka Doncic flirted with a 40-point triple-double, LeBron James added 30 points while missing only one shot and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 124-116 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday that clinched the three-game season series.
After James fueled a 13-4 start to the fourth quarter with a pair of baskets and two assists, Doncic took over to close out a sweep of the two-game set that included an eight-point victory Monday. Third-place Los Angeles (44-25) won its seventh in a row, while fifth-place Houston (41-27) fell one behind fourth-place Minnesota (43-27) in the Western Conference.
Doncic followed a go-ahead Rui Hachimura 3-pointer with one of his own that pushed the Lakers to a 113-109 lead. Doncic then assisted on alley-oop dunks to Hachimura and James before he drilled a stepback 3 that extended the lead to 120-111 with 58.4 seconds left.
Doncic posted 40 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists and nailed seven 3-pointers, while James finished 13 of 14 from the field. Deandre Ayton (16 points) and Austin Reaves (14 points, eight assists) rounded out a balanced attack that resulted in the Lakers shooting 60.5%.
Alperen Sengun paced the Rockets with 27 points and 10 assists. Amen Thompson added 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 18 apiece.
The Rockets erased a 13-point first-half deficit and seized a 73-72 lead on a Durant dunk with 7:05 left in the third. Houston started the second half on an 18-5 spurt. The Rockets extended to a six-point lead before Doncic halved that margin entering the final period with a 3, a free throw and a late layup.
Ayton nearly matched his seven-point output from Monday by the midpoint of the first quarter, and with James producing two 3-pointers and a transition dunk, the Lakers seized an early advantage. Doncic took control down the stretch of the opening period, and his late 3-pointer helped the Lakers take a 35-26 lead into the second. The Lakers made 7 of 12 3s in the first.
James added a thunderous transition dunk off a Houston missed 3 that stretched the Lakers’ lead to 45-32. Late in the half, James converted a layup five seconds after a Josh Okogie 3-pointer. When Doncic scored through a foul soon after another Houston turnover, his ensuing three-point play allowed the Lakers to take a 67-55 lead into the break.
James and Doncic tallied 18 points apiece in the first half. Thompson led Houston with 14 points at the break.
